Shingle construction



F. L. WORSHAM SHINGLE CONSTRUCTION Dec. 4, 195] 2 SHEETS'SHEET 1 FiledAug. 27, 1946 IN V EN TOR.

FLOYD L.- UOIZSHAM ATTORNEY Dec. 4, 195] WORSHAM 2,577,695

SHINGLE CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 27, 1946 v 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 FIG- 6 I NVEN TOR.

y Fuo lo L. woazsHAm ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 4, 1951 ,2.

UNITED PATENT OFFICE V SHINGLE CONSTRUCTION Floyd L. Worsham, Anniston.Ala.

Application August 27, 1946, Serial No. 693,225

This invention relates to coverings primarily for roofs and the likeincluding shinglespand more particularly to improved compositionshingles of sheet material such as asbestos impregnated with a suitablebinder and provided with a suitable coating to eliminate tackiness ofthe binder and provide shingles ofv any. desired color.

. Composition shingles are widely used at present and are available inseveral forms. The shingles available at present fail to satisfy in someparticulars.

For example, most shingles now available are so shaped that aconsiderable amount of waste is involved in cutting or otherwisedetaching the shingles from strips or rolls of sheet material.Conventional shingles can be applied ordinarily in only one manner andcan provide only one roof pattern, and where difierent patterns aredesired several types of shingles have to be stocked. Present availableshingles are also subject to curling after they have been in place on aroof for a comparatively short time, permitting water to be swept underthe shingles by wind during a storm and in some cases making it possiblefor a moderately strong wind to loosen th shingles and remove them fromthe roof.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide an improvedcomposition shingle so shaped that rows of shingles may be cut fromsuitable strips of sheet material with substantially no waste, theentire stamping or cutting operation can be performed rapidly andefliciently in a single operation, and shingles of the same shape may belaid in different ways to provide several difierent roof patterns.

It is a further object of the invention to provide improved compositionshingles having means for locking extending portions of the shingles inplace so that the shingles cannot vcurlafter they have been applied tothe roof and the roof will thus remain in satisfactory condition for anextended period of service. v

It is also an object to provide an improved composition shingle havingedge shoulders or notches functioning as guide means by which theshingles can be easily and quickly aligned with adjacent shingles toprovide desired roof patterns. 7 1 g Other objects and advantages willbecome apparent as the description proceedsin conjunction with theaccompanying drawings. wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a'group of adjoining shingles showing themanner which the shingles are stamped or cut fromia-strip. of sheet '3'claims. (01.108-7) material without substantial waste of material;

Fig. 2, a plan view of a single shingle; Fig. 3, a plan view similar toFig. 2 showing a somewhat modified form of shingle;

Fig. 4, a plan view of a group of shingles laid in a Dutch lap pattern;Fig. 5, a plan view of a group of shingles laid to provide a hexagonalor tile pattern; and

Fig. 6, a plan view of a group of the same shingles. laid to provide anAmerican lap pattern, With continued reference to the drawings andparticularly to Fig. 1, each shingle, as generally designated at I0,comprises a substantially rectangular portion II having at one sidethereof a tapered tongue or extension I2, the side edgesof whichconverge at an angle of approximately 20 from-the corresponding side ofthe rectangular portion to a straight end portion substantially parallelto the side of the rectangular portion from which the tongue extends. Atits outer end the tongue is provided with a substantially L- shaped slotor cut I3 extending from the end of the tongue to a hole I4 at the innerend of the slot.

At its wider or base end the tongue I2 is of. less width than therectangular portion I I providing a shoulder I5 at one side thereof anda shoulder I6 at the opposite side, the shoulder I5 being wider than theshoulder l6.

. The side of the rectangular portion extending from the shoulder I5 isprovided with two inset shoulders I! and [8 of a width not materiallygreater than one-fourth of'the shoulder I 5. The edge of the rectangularportion extending from the portion l6 has an outset shoulder I9 ofapproximately the same width as the shoulders l! and I8 so that the edgeof the rectangular portion opposite the edge from which the tongueextends has a length less than the edge from which the tongue extends bythe width of the shoulder I8. The width of the shoulder I8 is such as toprovide an appearance of conventional spacing between adjacent shingleswhen laid in the American lap pattern and the distance of this shoulderfrom the edge of the shingle opposite the tongue is substantially the'same as the width of the exposed portions of overlapped woodenshingles.

The modified form of shingleshown in Fig. 3 is identical with the formshown in Fig. 2 except that the outer end of the tongue portion isprovided with a C-shaped slot 20, the ends of which terminate in holes2| and 22. The slots or cuts I3 and 20. provide means for locking downthe exposed tongue portions when the shingles are laid in the hexagonalor tile pattern illustrated in Fig. 5.

When the shingles are laid in the Dutch lap pattern, illustrated in Fig.4, the adjacent edge portions are overlapped. In the pattern illustratedin Fig. 4, the edge extending from the shouder is of a shinglepositioned to the right is lapped over the adjacent edge of a shinglepositioned to the left until the outer corner of the shoulder l6 of thetop shingle is coincident with the point of intersection of theright-hand edge of the tongue and the shoulder I oi the bottom shingle.tersection of adjacent tongue edges of adjacent shingles a space equalin width to the shoulder 16. A course of shingles, overlapped asindicourse of overlapped shingles is applied over the first course withthe lower edges or" the secondcourse overlapping the-tongue portions ofthe first course and the adjacent rectangular portions up to theshoulders H and I9. As the shingles are applied to the roof, eachshingle is fastened down by two nails, as indicated at 23 and 24,located at the two right-hand corners of the rectangular portions of theshingles, the nails being applied in such a manner that all nail headsarecovered by overlapping shingle portions. The outer overlapping edgesof the shingles are then secured to the roof by suitable corrosionresist.- ing means, such as copper staples25. In applying the shinglesto form this Dutch lap pattern, the tongues are at the upper edges ofthe shingles, the edges of .the shingles opposite the tongues beingparallel to the edge or" the roof at the eaves.

When the shingles .are applied to form the hexagonal or tile patternshown in 'Fig. .5, they are inverted in position so that the rectangularportions of the shingles are upward or toward the peak of the roof andthe tongues are .on the lower sides of the shingles extending toward theedge of the roof. In this case a first course of shingles is preferablylaid in the upright position with the edges opposite the tonguesparallel to and overhanging the edge .of the roof at the edges. Thesucceeding courses of shingles, however, are

This leaves between the points of ininverted as illustrated in Fig. 5.In this case the edges of the shingles are not overlapped but are laidin abutting relationship while the courses are overlapped to an extentsuch that the shingles of an overlying course have their shoulders I!and I9 along the edges opposite the tongues of the correspondingunderlying course. This provides between adjacent shingles the spacesequal in width to the shoulders [8, but these spaces are covered byoverlying courses and do notvappear in the upper surface of the roof. Aseach superimposed course of shingles is laid, the cuts or slots l3 or 20in the ends of the tongues are passed over the shoulder portions E5 ofthe corresponding shingles of the underlying course. This looks thelower ends of the tongues down firmly in position and prevents theseextended portions of the shingles from curling.

The shingles are secured in position on the roof by means of fasteningnails 26 inserted through the corners of .the shingles adjacent theshoulders I5 and I 6.

When the shingles are laid in the American lap pattern illustrated inFig. 6, a first course is laid with the-edges opposite the tonguesorextensions parallel to and along the lower edge of the roof at theeaves. The adjacent edges of the shingles in the course are abutted in amanner such that the shoulder IQ of one shingle over'- lies the shoulderI! of an adjacent shingle, these shoulders providing a guide for layingthe courses evenly as well as a lock against longitudinal movement ofthe shingles relative to each other. At the same time the shoulders l8provide spaces between the lower portions of the rectangular parts ofthe shingles to give the appearance of conventional spacing of woodenshingles. The overlying course is positioned so that the edges of theshingles opposite the tongues lie along the shoulders N3 of theunderlying course. This provides an extensive overlapping of theshingles such-as to give a substantially three-ply roof and 15 theexposed parts of the rectangular portions of the shingles have a widthbetween their lower edges and the lower edges of the superimposed courseso limited that any tendency of the shingles to curl is eliminated. Inthis pattern the shingles are secured to the roof by nails insertedthrough the rectangular portions of the shingles adjacent the edgeshaving the shoulders 19 and H and at substantially halfway of the widthof the rectangular portions between the edges from which the tonguesextend and the edges'opppsite the tongues. All nail heads in this casevarecovered :by portions of superimposed shingles.

By reason .of the particular shape of the improved shingles, asdescribed above, the shingles may be out from the sheet material withoutwaste except for the small strips of sheet material between theshoulders l8 and the edges of the shingles opposite the extensions, asis clearly illustrated in Fig. 1. This amount of waste is entirelynegligible. Also, the shingles can be laid in various patterns such asthose illustrated in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 and are securely locked in placeagainst curling or displacement by wind or weather.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes maybe made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scopethereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which isshown in the drawing and de scribed in the specification but onlyasdndicated in the appended claims. i

What is claimed is:

' 1. A-composition shingle adapted to be laid in side by siderelationship with similar shingles comprising a rectangular base portionintegral truncated tongue portion elXtending from one edge thereo-f,;anedge of the tongue portionandthe edges'of the base portion beingsubstantially parallel :to each other, one side of the base portionbeing provided with a parallel stepped-down portion forming a recessextending to the said one edge thereof, the opposite side of the baseportion being provided with three progressively stepped down paralleledges of progressively increased lengths separated by shoulders, theuppermost of said edgesbei-ng of identical length and depth with therecess provided in the opposite side of the base portion whereby when aplurality of shingles are'laid in side by side relationship to form apattern the uppermost of said stepped-down. edges will "be receivedwithin the recess in the side of the adjacent shingle, the intermediatestepped-down portion will abut theside of the adjacentshingle adjoiningthe recess therein, and the lowermost of said stepped-down portions willprovide .a space between adjacent shingles, said truncated tongueportion being provided with an angular slot the-outer-end thereofroviding -.a locking tab to be inserted beneath the edge portion of anadjacent shingle. I

2. A shingle as set forth in claim 1 wherein said slot is L-shapedextending inwardly from the outer edge of the tongue, one leg of theslot being substantially parallel to said outer edge.

3. A shingle as set forth in claim 1 wherein said slot is C-shaped, thetop and bottom legs of said slot being substantially parallel to theouter edge of said truncated tongue.

FLOYD L. WORSHAM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,425,992 Lesher Aug. 15, 19221,442,379 Abraham Jan. 16, 1923 1,613,102 Harshberger Jan. 4, 1927 102,084,981 Anderson June 29, 1937

